The Internet provides a wide variety of network services, such as the World Wide Web, electronic mail, multiplayer online games, Internet telephony, and file sharing services. The Internet has affected modern life in countless ways. Many traditional communications media are being redefined as a result of the Internet, giving birth to new services such as email, Internet telephony, Internet television, online music, digital newspapers, and video streaming websites. Online shopping has grown exponentially, both for major retailers and also for small businesses. The Internet has facilitated new forms of personal interaction through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking.
Many people use mobile computing devices (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers) to access the Internet. Some mobile devices include a cellular network interface and are configured with an account with a cellular service provider that enables them to access the Internet using a cellular network. Some of these devices may be configured to provide a tethering service, which is a service that enables a computing device to share the access to the Internet with one or more other devices. A device that provides a tethering service may be referred to herein as a tethering device. One or more client devices may tether to the tethering device and access the Internet via the tethering service on the tethering device. Tethering may be done over a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection, a wireless personal area network (WPAN) connection (e.g., Bluetooth®), or by physical connection using a cable.